Liberty University’s club men’s volleyball team thanks its fellow students for the overwhelming response to the team’s recent Spike at Midnight event.

The chance to play a game in Vines Center has long been a dream for the team who, at 16-3 and with the postseason approaching, is playing back-to-back historic seasons.

With last year’s promotion to National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Division I-A play, the team’s first ever national ranking and Head Coach Bryan Rigg named Club Sports Coach of the Year, men’s volleyball went into this season hoping to share their success with the
student body.

“To gain 10 or 20 more fans at our games through this midnight game would just be huge for us,” opposite hitter Kevin Snyder said before the game.

Instead, an overwhelming 2,700 Liberty students flooded the Vines Center Jan. 31 to cheer on the team. While the team may not have gotten the win in a tight game versus Rutgers, all of us involved with the program know the support of their fellow students was the ultimate win for the Flames.

Thank you for supporting men’s volleyball, and we hope you continue to do so. As we pursue the program’s first national championship, we are thankful to already claim the most important title of all — best fans in the league.

In front of a crowd of nearly 3,000 people Friday night, the Liberty men’s volleyball team took to the court inside the Vines Center in their inaugural “Blackout” midnight match against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University.

Becoming the first club sports team in Liberty history to play a match in the Vines Center, the Liberty Flames (1-1, 16-3-2 including fall play) were defeated (25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 25-27, 12-15) in a matchup with the defending Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Division I East Coast Regional Tournament champions.

Junior libero Josiah Williams, who has seen the team progress over his multiple years, soaked in the chance to take part in the inaugural midnight match.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us,” Williams said. “Especially for some of us who have seen the program from three years ago, it has grown exponentially. The energy the students brought was insane.”

With the Vines Center filled with fans hopeful to cheer the Flames to victory, the Flames opened the match with an early first-set victory, 25-20.

“(The first-set victory) was huge,” Williams, the anchor of the defense, said. “It got the crowd into it. It built our confidence up. Unfortunately, we got lackadaisical in the second game (and) let our foot off the pedal a little bit.”

SPIKE — a close game ended in disappointment for the Flames. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

Down 23-21, in the third set, the Flames responded with a block from opposite hitter Kevin Snyder and kills from sophomore setter Nick Williamson and freshman middle blocker Luke Werth to come back and take the third set 26-24.

Yet again, the Scarlet Knights responded in the fourth set with a 27-25 victory.

After trading points in the fifth set, the Flames found themselves down early, 9-5. The Flames were never able to take the lead in the set, eventually losing 12-15 and securing the victory for the Scarlet Knights.

According to Head Coach Bryan Rigg, the Flames chose to host such a big event after looking to kick off their season in a memorable way and after seeing the previous midnight games held by the Liberty men’s lacrosse team.

Rigg said in order to get the word out about the event, posters and a promotional video were created. Players also greeted students before Convocation Friday to invite them to the match.

Even though the inaugural midnight match ended in disappointment for the Flames, Rigg said his team will gain a lot from such a tight contest.

“As a young team, with a bunch of freshmen and transfers, we’ve never been in big situations like this, so … we can learn from some of the disappointments,” Rigg said. “… To feel what it’s like to go back and forth and be so close makes us better for next time.”

After the match, Werth recognized the effort his team put into playing their best.

“As long as we feel like we left the best (play) on the court, we should be satisfied with that.,” Werth said. “Rutgers is a great team, and I’m happy to see them hopefully again in the East Coast Tournament.”

According to Williams, the Flames need to refine their game more and be more consistent They will have the opportunity as they host the EIVA Tournament Feb. 14 in the LaHaye Multipurpose Center.

Heading into the fall season with many new players added to the lineup, Liberty’s men’s club volleyball team was uncertain how it would fare in its opening tournaments.

With two tournament wins in the books, it appears as if they will have nothing to worry about.

The Flames have started the fall season 11-0-1, winning both the Eastern Mennonite University tournament Sept. 6 and their home Liberty Tournament Oct. 11.

Transfer sophomore setter Nick Williamson was named most valuable player of the EMU Tournament, but gave the credit to his whole team.
“It is a testament to the hard work we put in,” Williamson said. “Obviously, I couldn’t have done it without my team. I think it was a team effort, not one person.”

For the first time, the men’s volleyball team has enough players on its roster to have two separate teams compete at each tournament.

Head Coach Bryan Rigg said having 18 men on the roster, with six being freshmen, has made a profound impact so far.

“We’ve been able to travel two teams to get the younger guys experience,” Rigg said. “We have been able to scrimmage every Thursday. It has made guys who were comfortable in their position have to fight for their spot, so everyone has improved.”

The Flames top returning hitter from last year, Kevin Snyder, also emphasized the benefits of having a large roster.

“It pushes us a lot in practices,” Snyder said. “There are a lot of guys who are hungry and eager to make the starting squad, and that helps. It helps us to stay focused in practice and helps us to be the best we can be.”

Returning junior defensive player Josiah Williams acknowledged the importance of the previous court experience of the new players. He said many of the freshmen have had extensive club and high school playing time. Williamson, though not a freshman, played a semester at the University of Arizona and a semester at a southern California community college, which he led to a conference title.

“We have better team chemistry,” Williams said. “(The new players) have definitely brought lots of talent and their mental game. They are really smart on the court.”

But the Flames recent success in their tournaments did not begin on the court. The Flames participated in a preseason conditioning boot camp.

“We ran, and we ran, and we ran,” Snyder said. “We did a lot of conditioning and mental toughness. We stayed away from the volleyball courts, and we just came together. Having gone through boot camp, encouraging each other and finishing together is what really helped
us come together as a team.”

To conclude their preseason schedule before the official spring season begins, the Flames will travel to the King’s College Tournament in Tennessee Nov. 1 and the Lancaster Bible Tournament Nov. 22.

In addition, the Flames will host Rutgers University in a midnight match Jan. 30, 2015 at the Vines Center. The men’s volleyball squad will be the first Liberty club sports team to play an official game in the Vines Center.

“We are excited,” Rigg said. “We have already started marketing it. We have big plans.”

Snyder said he has been looking forward to Jan. 30 since the summer.

“I kept thinking about Jan. 30 and how awesome it’s going to be,” Snyder said. “Just the fans that are going to come out and support (us). What a great opportunity to come out and just be on this team.”

Yet, defeating Rutgers in the Vines Center is not the team’s ultimate goal.

“Our goal from the second week of April, right after nationals, was to win a national championship this year,” Rigg said. “Our goal from the beginning was a national championship. It still is the goal, and it’s becoming more and more realistic as the season goes on.”

RODRIGUEZ is a sports reporter.

]]>https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/10/club-remains-undefeated/feed/0Men’s Volleyball Dominates Longwoodhttps://www.liberty.edu/champion/2013/11/mens-volleyball-dominates-longwood/
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2013/11/mens-volleyball-dominates-longwood/#commentsTue, 12 Nov 2013 20:11:37 +0000http://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=23853Continue reading]]>In its final home match of the fall, the men’s club volleyball team beat Longwood in three games (25-22, 25-21, 25-9) Nov. 6.

This was the team’s first match in over a month, which was evident, in the early moments of the night. However, the Flames managed to burn off the cobwebs and capture its seventh win of the season.

Head Coach Bryan Rigg was fairly pleased with his team. However, he recognized areas that needed some work.

“Our serving percentage was higher than usual,” Rigg said. “We kept out serves in, our offense was fairly good, our passing was fairly good … (but) our blocking was atrocious. Throughout the season so far … we have averaged between four (and) five blocks per game. Today, we had zero blocks over the first two games.”

Despite the defensive struggles, Liberty managed to play good enough offense to counteract the blocking problems they had in the first two sets. Freshman Josiah Hershberger and senior Kevin Snyder led the charge for the Flames. Hershberger managed nine kills, and two blocks in the match.

Snyder energized the team by his seven kills against the Lancers.

“It definitely builds up confidence for me as a hitter, and it sparks me (and) makes (me) want to get the next one,” Snyder said. “A big hit can change a match, so I try to provide that for the team.”

Longwood was able to keep up with the Flames in the first two games, losing to close games, 25-22 and 25-21.

In the third game, the Flames started to play more dynamic offense and solid defense leading to a 25-9 victory.

Wednesday night marked the final home match for Liberty in its regular season. The Flames will return home for the postseason for the EIVI South Championships.

“This is the strongest team we’ve had yet,” Senior Ethan Chase said. “I think this is the best team we’ll take to nationals since we’ve started the program.”

The Liberty University men’s volleyball team earned a split (2-2) in its season opener at the Virginia Tech Tournament in Roanoke, Va., Saturday, Sept. 5.

Liberty won the first two matches, beating Richmond University and the University of Virginia. However, they were unable to hold on to the winning streak, losing the last two games to the Virginia Tech alumni team and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We forced a deciding set in both of the last games, so it shows that we are right there with the top teams in our conference,” senior Steven Abbott said. “Just a little more work and we will be there.”

The Flames team is made up of mostly newcomers this season. Abbot explained that there are only five returning players, leaving the team no choice but to restructure their starting six.

Freshman Josiah Hershberger is now hitting outside for the Flames. Also new to the team is middle blocker Ryan Culkin.

“It was really exciting to see some of our new players step into their new roles,” Abbott said. “(Hershberger) gave us a great option on the outside, and Ryan was blocking great in the middle all day.”

Hershberger is excited about his opportunity to play with veteran players.

“I am a freshman playing against mostly seniors with a lot more experience than me,” Hershberger said. “But I enjoyed playing with the team and having a good time together.”
According to Abbott, Kevin Snyder will be a big boost to the team.

“We also benefitted from having (Snyder) as a right side hitter,” Abbott said. “He added some depth into our offensive attack this tournament and was a great indicator of what we need to improve on for the rest of the season.”

Snyder was happy with the way his team performed in its first tournament.

“I felt we did really well for our first tournament playing together,” Snyder said. “We saw some things that we do exceptionally well at and discovered a lot of things we need to work on for future tournaments.”

The Flames are ready to take what they learned in their first tournament and prepare to make the changes they need heading into this weekend’s home tournament.

“We came with great energy, and we were putting balls down, which is what you want as a team,” Snyder said. “We didn’t finish how we would have liked, but this will fuel us for our home tournament this coming weekend.”

The team will play in front of its home fans at the Liberty Tournament Oct. 5 in the Schilling Center.